So, here's my take on the Prequels. You can hate the bad acting, because there certainly is some. You can hate the bad writing, because there's certainly a lot of it. You can hate the cinematography, because, let's face it, George Lucas gets bored when he's just filming people talking.
What PISSES me off is when people start going on about "oh, it's all just politics, it's so boring, who cares about taxation and trade routes wahhhh" Like, seriously? Are you really that much of a spastic three-year-old that you need explosions and fight scenes every three seconds and can't be bothered to think about anything? The politics and all that is what I LIKE about the Prequels. Rather than just a straight good vs. evil story, it's a story about temptation and manipulation and corruption, which is far more interesting than just white hat vs. black hat cowboy shoot-em-ups.
What I really, *really* hope is that J.J. Abrams takes a philosophical, nuanced look in this new film. If it's just good guys vs. bad guys, I will be disappointed. It'll probably still be a decent movie with awesome special effects, but the Star Wars saga really deserves more than that at this point.